But it is becoming very clear to me that there is a growing gap between the abilities of those who just use some tool and those who created the tools. The problem seems to be that the only engineers who seem to be interested in running the show are the ones who should not be running the show.

That's a heck of a comment, William K. I did late-night work when I was in college as well. I worked on the university's daily newspaper. I'd come into the office after a play or concert and have to write a review that evening while the copy editors were waiting for my copy. They couldn't go home until I finished. What pressure. It was good practice.

Back in the day, I was also a UMD "night owl" from time to time (physics and EE). The campus was an entirely different world at night (never a fight over an electronic terminal, with the loser left having to use the POS teletypes). As a commuter with a full time job though, it tended only to be when I absolutely HAD to get it done (or by invitation).

Of course, bypassing lock-outs is never good (usually this conversation revolves around generators and people who understand basic circuits but not fault modes).

A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

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